March 2010 - Health Care Reform Improves Access to Osteoporosis Testing

On behalf of 44 million Americans, 10 million of whom have osteoporosis and another 34 million who have low bone mass which put them at risk for the disease, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) is proud to announce that the US Congress and the President have temporarily remedied a major problem for osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment.

By Congress passing and the President signing the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” HR 3590, Americans now can continue to have access to Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA testing), the imaging procedure accepted as the gold standard for preventing, diagnosing and treating osteoporosis. HR 3590 mandates Medicare to reinstate the rate of reimbursement for this test to not less than 70 percent of 2006 rates and would provide for a study and report by the Institute of Medicine on this issue.

NOF’s President Robert Recker, MD, said, ”We appreciate the support of our congressional champions, particularly Senator Blanche Lincoln (AR) and Representative Shelley Berkley (NV-1st), who recognize the public’s need for continued access to appropriate healthcare for osteoporosis. Along with them, for more than three years, NOF, its advocates and other interested groups battled to reverse Medicare cuts to DXA reimbursement. These cuts made it difficult for physicians to continue to offer bone density testing in their offices, jeopardizing patient access to osteoporosis care.”

We thank everyone who communicated with their Members of Congress to make their views known on this issue. Because of you, we have achieved a victory for the improved bone health of all Americans.